Are you curious about how laboratory science courses can be made more accessible? Then take part in the Creatively Learning Accessible Science Symposium (CLASS). This day-long symposium is based on the new free eBook Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities. You will hear from experts in d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing scientists, blind scientists, neurodiversity, and on mobility disorders and service dog accommodations in the lab; they will give tips and tricks to make your classroom/lab more accessible. We will then have time for attendees to work collaboratively in groups toward solving real access issues in your courses.

This will be a hybrid event with the option to attend in person or online and will take place on Nov. 1 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Horizon Room of the Memorial Union or via Zoom. Lunch will be included for those attending in person. Accommodation requests can be made using the registration form.

The event is sponsored by Oregon State University’s STEM Research Center, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Acess, College of Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, and the College of Engineering and is part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-funded Inclusive Excellence at OSU initiative. IE@OSU is a program to support college STEM faculty in strengthening inclusive practices in teaching and advising.

Registration is $35 for in-person attendance and $20 for online attendance. Zoom links will be sent out closer to the event date to those who have registered to attend virtually. Spots are limited, so RSVP today to secure your seat! Registration will close on Oct. 25. If you are unable to register through the form please contact Jessica Sawyer at jessica.sawyer@oregonstate.edu or (541) 737-2197 for registration support.

See below for experts’ bios:

Dr. Patricia (Pat) Redden

Dr. Redden is a professor emerita of the City University of New York (CUNY) as well as Saint Peter’s University and 2025 winner of the prestigious American Chemical Society (ACS) Volunteer Award for her years of service to the society in promotion of disability inclusion. Pat has served on the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety, ACS Chemists with Disabilities Committee, and the ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement forwarding awareness on safety factors for people with disabilities in both professional and teaching laboratories as well as being a nation-wide renowned expert on safety considerations of service dogs in the classroom and laboratory. Pat has two daughters with cerebral palsy and has raised 10 service dogs for Canine Companions for Independence, an agency that specializes in service dogs for people with mobility disabilities and veterans with PTSD.

Dr. Kevin Kelly

Dr. Kelly is a Research Chemist at the US Bureau of Reclamation. He does dives every year to make sure major dams such as Hoover Dam and others are in good shape and does research on the prevention of invasive zebra mussels which frequently clog up water intakes for power plants and endanger native mussels by filtering out native species food and immobilizing native species by attaching to them. He leads an intern program specializing in recruiting d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing students to work in government laboratories. Dr. Kelly has worked with the ACS Chemists with Disabilities Committee and the Meetings and Expositions Committee to bring closed captioning and sign to most ACS videos and governance meetings. Dr. Kelly grew up in Oregon, learning his love for the ocean and environmentalism from crabbing and beach exploration.

Dr. Christin Monroe

Dr. Monroe works at Landmark College, the original University to serve only neurodivergent students. Dr. Monroe is an expert in neurodiversity in STEM fields and has an NSF S-STEM grant which funds a mentorship program at Landmark University pairing neurodiverse students with a community and STEM jobs. This helps students identify pros and cons of different settings and helps them to analyze possible selves in STEM increasing better matches for students and employers in the future. Dr. Monroe specializes in the intersectionality of neurodiversity, minorities and first-generation college students.

Ashley Neybert

Ms. Neybert is a third-year Ph.D. student at Oregon State University focusing on inclusion of the blind in STEM. Co-author of the chapter on blindness and visual impairments in the 5th Edition of Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities and featured in Australia’s required chemistry reading Blackman et al’s Chemistry Core Concepts 3rd Edition and Blackman et al’s Chemistry 5th Edition for her work in making Chemistry more Accessible to the Blind, Ms. Neybert works to make chemistry a more inclusive space for all using lived experience in blindness and autism.